Obratzova has wonderful detail in her hands, expression, and timing. Her gifts were clear in the "Ballerina" film, when she was just a second year. There is something so finished and complete about her dancing. How I wish I could have been there!

I really like Chudin as well. He has lovely free leg position in his pirouettes and lovely ballon. I love how in his variation he is dancing for her, not just an academic or show-off exercise, and it's so full of surrender. I also love how the nationals swirl around Odette and Siegfried, like the swans will in the next act.

Sorry for not sharing your enthusiasm, guys. I have watched the video most carefully: Obraztsova's arms are floppy, shoulders drooping and the pirouettes are positively epileptic. Not awful, of course, but hardly a revelation I was hoping for. Semen Chudin, on the other hand, is a pleasant surprise.

PS. of course, this is only my impression and I hope it is OK to express one (?)

I'm with you, Jayne -- i see Kirkland and Hepburn in her -- they all three made me want to protect them, as if they were real to me and I TO THEM.... yes, of course, "that way madness lies,' but that is in fact the way artists affect me, as if they were not only in my world but making my world for me.... Obrasztova is one of those performers that God makes you care about.... I don't really believe in God, but I don't know any other way of saying it...

Cristian, this looks like Bourmeister's choreography, which the Stanislavsky Ballet has been dancing for quite some time. They brought it here to San Francisco about 10 years ago, and most of us agreed that it is a coherent, powerful version of the ballet, quite different from the classic version the Royal Ballet dances, rather lurid but internally consistent. More recent versions like ABT's clearly owe a LOT to the Stanislavsky version -- especially in their versions of Rothbart ("Swamp thing"), without having the solid deep theatrical structure that Bourmeister's does....

Clips of Roberto Bolle in Swan Lake make it look like La Scala does Bourmeister's version as well. There's a very good first act.

This was fun to watch. I thought Obratsova's tutu made her pirouettes look floppier than they would otherwise look with a smaller, stiffer tutu. Chunin looked like he was flinging his head back to get his hair out of his face. Rather distracting. The set decor and corps look sumptuous in their tudor-esque costumes, especially the headgear.

Obraztsova is an extraordinarily beautiful Odile, as we rarely see nowadays. I had tears simply watching, she is so exquisite. As if a treasure from the past has been recovered. Thank you, Genya...and her coach, Stanislavsky prima of the 1960s & Pavlova Prize winner, Margarita Drozdova.